The Spring Festival Celebration
by VilyaSage
Summary: Chapter Three, and the end. I know Easter was months ago. But then, Easter itself was never really mentioned in here. And you were all looking forward to this no matter when, right? Of course you were. ;) So go on. Read. And Review. ~Vil
1. Part One: A Day of Relaxation, Right?

The Spring Festival Celebration

By: Vilya

I think this should really be "The Spring Festival that Vale Never Forgot" but that title sounds better.

Disclaimer: Hm…well, I own the story idea. And any new Djinn mentioned come straight from the Nintendo Power list, which, aside from listing a second (or the same) Corona, appears alright. Picard was, is and will always be Picard—I don't care _what_ they changed his name too. So…enjoy!

A/N: Small world, I know. This chapter is partly a leading-up but also stand-alone thing, and partly a birthday present for Avaria, resident Jupiter Adept. Happy Birthday, Ava! So, read on, make your comments…and wait for the mayhem to ensue.

Part One: A Day of Relaxation…Right?

         Eight Adepts happily rose to greet the spring sunlight one beautiful morning in Vale. Each woke at different times, of course, with Sheba as the first and Garet as the last. Isaac, Felix, Mia, Jenna, Picard, and Ivan were sandwiched somewhere in between. By some coincidence and a little planning ahead, they arrived at precisely the same time at Isaac's house for lunch.

         "This place has grown since I was last here," Mia commented.

         "Not to mention Dora has improved the food!" Garet happily added. There was a collective groan, and Jenna playfully slapped Garet on the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

         "For being predictable…on purpose," she said, bringing forth a laugh from even Felix. 

         "We should do something fun on such a nice day," Mia suggested, glancing out the window at the sunlight glinting off the river. "The weather's been so unpredictable lately."

         "To you, maybe," Ivan and Sheba said simultaneously, sharing a nearly identical mischievous grin. 

         "Somehow," Picard said, "every conversation we have ends up being a discussion about which element does what better than which other element."

         "Not that day we spent at the beach," said Jenna.

         "Oh, no, that was worse," Picard agreed, shaking his head at the memory.

         "It can't have been," Mia argued. "We agreed not to talk about the elements that day. It was supposed to be a day of…well, fun. Celebration."

         "What were we celebrating, anyway?" Garet asked. This earned him another swat on the head. "Jenna!"

         "It was Sheba's birthday!" she yelled back. Garet's expression changed then, from one of outrage to one of perplexity. "If you feel as stupid as you look, you're feeling right."

         "You're right. It _was_ my birthday. The second most eventful one I've ever had, considering that the first was really the day I…arrived…in Lalivero." Sheba grew quiet then, which was no surprise. She had said a pretty lengthy sentence, for one who was usually quiet and kept her thoughts to herself. "Though I would definitely rate it as the most fun. I mean…who could _not_ laugh at the sight of Ivan…" at this Sheba broke into laughter herself, unable to finish the sentence.

         "Felix didn't laugh," Isaac pointed out. "Then again, neither did Ivan. As I recall," he continued, a smile on his face as well, "Ivan was screaming about…the sand?"

         "You would too," Ivan said, "if you'd had that happen to you."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

         "Alright! A beautiful windy day!" Ivan said, practically sprinting along the path.

         "I thought we were going to ditch the elemental talk," Felix said, though he was grinning even as he spoke.

         "Nothing wrong with commenting on the weather," Jenna said. Everyone was in high spirits that day, and even Felix, the most subdued and private of all the Adepts, couldn't lose the smile that had broken onto his face about an hour ago.

         "I still say bringing the Lemurian wasn't a good idea. He might get the sudden urge to do that…singing thing again," Isaac joked. Picard, the Lemurian question, easily presented a comeback.

         "At least we didn't bring along that old man. What's his name? Kept pestering me with questions about Lemuria. I was tempted to throw him there, with some sort of Ice Missile ride maybe, but I wouldn't want to bring that on the people living there. I think I'd rather fight a…Kraden, that was his name. Where is _he_, Isaac?"

         "I didn't invite him," Isaac said with a smirk. Mia turned and looked at him, disapproval written on her features. "Indeed, it seems he had a previous engagement."

         "Oh really?" Mia asked frostily, cocking an eyebrow. The sight of her glaring so while walking backwards forced Jenna, Sheba and Picard to cover their laughter.

         "Yes. He was in Kalay, actually, having, it would seem, a rather spirited debate about…something. Who knows what?"

         "How do you know?"

         "Ivan helped me find out that one. But come on. We're almost there, and I'm looking forward to a day of relaxation!" Laughing, Isaac charged ahead, Jenna crying out and chasing after him, Mia a split second behind. Picard and Sheba looked at one another and shrugged. 

         "I see no reason to be rushing along and not enjoy this beautiful scenery with a good friend," Sheba said, grinning up at Picard. "Even if he _is_ so tall my neck gets stiff looking up at him."

         "My friend is just too short," Picard said with a grin. He reached out and pulled a lavender blossom from a nearby tree, handing it to Sheba. "Happy birthday."

         "Thanks," she said, putting the flower in her hair. Then, "Race you!" she called, already several feet ahead of the startled Picard.

         "Not fair!" he yelled. "You have instinctive speed!"

         "It's a known fact that smaller people are more agile," Garet said. "It's why the two of us always end up walking at the back of the line." 

         By the time Garet, Picard and Felix caught up to the others, Mia, Sheba and Ivan were already swimming. Picard soon joined them, as did Felix. Jenna was content to sit on the sand in the warmth of the sun, and Garet joined Isaac in the building of a sandcastle.

         "Something I never got to do when I was young," Isaac commented. "Of course, back then, I'd never even heard of the ocean!"

         "Remember when Kraden told us it was a thing of endless water at the end of the world, and we called him crazy?" Garet asked with a laugh.

         "Kraden _is_ crazy."

         "Crazier than ever, with his ideas about all that water. Who'd have thought he was telling the truth?" 

         "It's a lot to think about. I mean…there could be a thousand thousand places out there that no one's ever seen before except the people who live there. And we may never see them, because the ocean is large enough that they're hidden forever."

         "I never knew you were so philosophical, Isaac."

         "I just never saw the need to sound like I was. Come on—let's go for a swim!" Reluctantly, Garet followed Isaac into the water. Jenna, with an exasperated sigh and having no desire to sit alone on the beach, ran into the waves after them.

         "I can't think of a time when the water's been any warmer than—YEEARGH!" Picard yelped and spun around, his eyes narrowing on Mia, Sheba and Jenna, clustered together and giggling behind their hands. Picard slowly reached up and pulled the clump of seaweed from his hair. 

         "You three have crossed a dangerous line," Ivan remarked. "You made Picard angry. Have you ever _seen_ him when he's angry? Like a water cyclone during a hurricane. With some hot sauce on the side."

         "Hot sauce?" Felix asked. Ivan shrugged.

         "I had to add something."

         The water fight had officially begun, and while it started as a match between the girls and the guys, it quickly shifted to 'Every Adept for themselves' as Garet called it, because his original 'for himself' had earned him a very prominent splashing from Jenna. 

         There was much screeching, laughing, and throwing of both water and things found in that water. A chorus of voices calling out random, somewhat element-associated words brought forth the entire horde of seventy-two Djinn. 

         "Mars help us all!" yelped Torch. "We're in the ocean!"

         "Aw, lighten up, fire-head," said Fever. "You try living in an ice cave most of your recent existence. This is _fun!_" Following that comment, every Mars Djinn aside from Fever high-tailed it for the sand.

         "Hard to believe they hate the water," chirped Cascade. 

         "Mars Djinn," Dew said with an exasperated sigh. "They will never learn." 

         "Race you to the trees!" cried several Jupiter voices at once, and the owners of those voices, even the rough-tempered Luff among them, did exactly that, though any watching would have sworn they took a more scenic route up into the sky and around in a few circles first. 

         The Venus Djinn, by far the most in-control of all (usually), had chosen to inhabit the sand castle. Bane, in a repeat performance of his wintertime antics, wore a seashell on his head and sat on a larger shell.

         "I can't believe I used to think this was _fun_," Flint muttered. 

         "All bow to King Bane!" Bane snapped. 

         "Bow," repeated Ivan, hearing Bane's yell. "How, exactly, does a Djinni bow?"

         "Don't even bother," Isaac said. "Bane's always been a bit…odd."

         "I didn't mean the Djinn bow!" Bane yelled. "I meant, the _Adepts_ shall bow!"

         "Oh we shall, shall we?" Felix asked innocently. "Who says that?" In sharp contrast with his usual thoughtful gaze was today's perpetual grin. It made Jenna happy to see him smile, even as he joked with Isaac's Djinni.

         "We most certainly will not bow to a king shorter than my left shoe," Ivan called, and Isaac chuckled. Everyone came out of the water then, as it was about an hour after noon and everyone was hungry. Garet and Mia were headed for the basket of food they'd left up near the trees when a sudden yelp and a thud made them both spin back around.

         Ivan was on the ground, being sandblasted by all but three Venus Djinn. Those three were watching with half-interest, half-disgust.

         "Leave the poor boy alone, Bane!" called Sap. She, Vine and Iron were watching the mayhem. Ivan attempted to roll away from the sand, but was blocked by the castle itself. Rolling over that meant rolling over the Djinn inside it, so Ivan opted for something else. Grabbing a shell in his hand, he hurled it at the nearest Djinni. Said Djinni, Quartz, jumped out of the way, and instead the shell slammed into the forehead of the Venus Adept who had finally stopped smiling.

         Felix took a step back, catching the shell in his hand and giving a glare more potent than even Mia's worst to all nine of his Djinn. He and Isaac simultaneously called their names, though Isaac left off Bane, and one by one the Djinn disappeared. All except Bane, who vanished of his own accord seconds later.

         "Felix!" Sheba gasped, and he turned to look at her. She lifted a hand to her own forehead and rubbed it. Felix did likewise and winced. The shell had a sharp edge, and had sliced into his head, but it was easily fixable. 

         By this time, Ivan had rinsed himself of the sand, and the majority of the Djinn had vanished, except for Fever, still swimming crazily, and Squall, who seemed to be enjoying herself in her circular flight. 

         Mia and Jenna spread out a blanket, and Isaac the food, though he was constantly distracted by Garet's attempts to steal a taste. All eight Adepts sat and enjoyed their lunch, talking of their adventures without, for once, arguing about the advantages of one element over another, though the conversations were occasionally punctuated by Ivan's complaints about the sand in his hair. 

         Following lunch was a quiet afternoon. Jenna and Mia fell asleep on their towels, and Felix, Garet and Isaac were laughing at childhood memories of Vale. Picard sat on a large stone and played a soft song on his Lemurian flute. Ivan and Sheba listened for a while (wind instruments were their favorites), then stood and began walking along the beach looking for shells.

         "Picard is going to have that odd smile on his face that means he thinks we like one another," Ivan remarked, and Sheba nodded, grinning. She bent to pick up a shell, a spiraling pinkish-white one that wasn't much bigger than a coin. 

         "You and he are the only ones who know what today is, Ivan," she said, seeming fixated on the whorl pattern of the shell. "I didn't tell any of the others. It's…it's never been quite a good day for me."

         "Why not? A birthday should be a great thing."

         "Well…it's not my real birthday. It's the day I…showed up in Lalivero. No one ever tried to make a guess at my real birthday, because they thought I was a child of the gods."

         "There may be some truth in that, you know."

         "Oh, don't get all deep on me, Ivan. My point was…well, this has been the best birthday yet, even without any sort of celebration. Though…thank Jupiter it isn't _your_ birthday. It hasn't been a good day for you."

         "I should say not. I get the distinct feeling that Felix now holds more against me than he ever did." Ivan pondered this for a moment, then added, "If that were even possible."

         "Felix doesn't have anything more against you than he does against me. I think you just grate on his nerves—purposely—a bit more than I do."

         "Well, yes, there's that…"

         "Garet! I am going to kill you!" Jenna's voice carried far, and Ivan and Sheba found themselves running back to where the others were. Picard was indeed grinning, but not at them. He was grinning at the spectacle of a sand-covered Jenna chasing Garet with a piece of driftwood. "How dare you bury me while I was asleep!"

         "Nearly time," Mia mused, and Isaac, standing next to her, nodded. The sun was nearly touching the horizon, and the sky was becoming violet, crimson and orange. 

         "Red sky at night…" Isaac said quietly. "It won't rain tomorrow."

         "I should hope not. Do you know how many places I've got to go outdoors tomorrow?"

         "Mia, you like the rain. On occasion, you _control_ the rain."

         "Yes, but when one is busy with other things on her mind, rain, wonderful as it is, only gets in the way." The sun had reached the horizon, but only just, and a shrill whistle could be heard in the trees. "It's time."

         "That it is. Everyone!" Isaac called. "Come here!" Slowly, the others all joined Isaac and Mia, Garet rubbing the spot on his head where Jenna had whacked him. Isaac had the strangest grin on his face. As the whistle grew louder, the leaves on the trees began to rustle, as though in anticipation.

         "What's going on?" Sheba asked. Ivan just shrugged, glad that the dim light hid the smile that had spread on his face. The shrubbery in front of where they stood parted, and through it walked a number of familiar people. Dora, Garet's parents, Megan and Justin, Feizhi, Hama and Hsu, Iodem, and behind them all, Faran carrying a cake.

         "What? What is this?" Sheba asked incredulously.

         Instead of replying, everyone except Picard began to sing. Picard played out the song on his flute, though he knew it might be hopeless, trying to keep everyone in tune.

         "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Sheba! Happy birthday to you!"

         "I don't know whether to be ecstatic or angry," Sheba said as everyone took a piece of the cake and began to eat it.

         "Be ecstatic," Isaac suggested. "Anger isn't good on your birthday."

         "YARRGH!" Ivan yelped. A horde of Venus Djinn was again chasing him, by the secret orders of Felix, but this time there was more fun and a little less anger involved. 

         About an hour later, the sun had fully set, and only the eight Adepts remained sitting on the beach. Together they looked at the stars, bright twinkling lights in the evening sky, and couldn't imagine a happier day.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

         "Those were some good times," Felix said, the grin returned to his face. "We should have another day like that."

         "We will, soon enough. Have you forgotten already why we're here?" Ivan asked.

         "Because we basically live here now?" speculated Picard.

         "Well, there's that. But also because of the Spring Festival."

         "Oh goody. More decorating," Jenna sighed. "I'd almost forgotten."

         "Oh, it won't be that bad. We have the rest of today to enjoy ourselves—then the _real_ preparation starts." Isaac finished this with an evil-looking grin.

         "You spent too much time around Saturos," Mia said playfully.

         "Perhaps I did."

         "Here's an idea," said Sheba. "Let's have a race."

         "You and Ivan will tie, like you always do," Garet complained.

         "Nope. No elements allowed. Pure muscle power."

         "You're on!" The eight Adepts raced out of the house and began to head for the giant Psynergy Stone in the plaza. "Last one there is the last to taste the food tomorrow!" Jenna called. This statement made Garet pick up considerable speed.

         And that day, all was well with the Adepts, and with Vale.

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Ok, so did you like it? Anyone who's read the most recent chapter of Sunlight and Shade, I forgot a magic arrow in there, and also review replies—oops! Anyway…this will become the Easter Fic, but instead of Easter they have Spring Festival in Vale. So…on with the mayhem!

Review if you want more!!

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	2. Part Two: Preparations, Adept Style

The Spring Festival Celebration

A/N: Yay! Chapter two! I'll try to finish by Easter—I didn't realize how little time I had left. Now…you reviewers said stuff. My turn to say stuff back.

**Midnight C:** If the Djinn ran around loose in the game, the world would be far less concerned with the lighthouses and Babi would be ordering his people to invent pesticide. And Picard's not sure he'll go to your party after you ZAPPED him…but I promised no revenge, I suppose. The GSC goes on…

**Alex:** Would it be my story without Picard? (I don't even read it in the game as 'Piers'. My eyes see 'Picard' in place of the word Piers.)

**Jupiter Girl: **How much chaos? A lesson for the future—never ask me that, or the chaos will multiply. Read on…you'll see just how much chaos eight Adepts can cause.

**VI:** Have fun reading this one. And tell Triad to come read it!

Part Two: Preparations, Adept Style

            "I beat you fair and square, Garet," Ivan said.

            "In your dreams, maybe," Garet replied hotly. He, Ivan, Felix and Isaac were busy hunting through his attic for the Spring Festival decorations. 

            "You do realize we've got to hang all this stuff, right?" Isaac asked wearily. He'd been hanging, sweeping, polishing and scrubbing since early that morning—around the holidays, Dora became a neat freak. Since _she_ was busy cooking, mostly dessert, Isaac had to do all the cleaning work. 

            "Most of it doesn't hang, actually," Garet said. "A lot of it is this." He held up a pastel-yellow basket. There were several of varying light colors in the box behind him. "That's where Mia, Jenna and Sheba went. Flowers go in the baskets."

            "And what about Picard?" Ivan asked, slightly annoyed that the Lemurian may have been shirking his duties.

            "He said he had something planned, but he wouldn't say what it was," Isaac replied, lifting down a box from the top of a stack. "Look at this—colored dye."

            "Likely just finding a way to avoid work," Garet grumbled.

            "Colored dye?" Ivan asked. "What for?"

            "To color the eggs with. Even _I_ remember that," Felix said. "Eggs. We need to get those too."

            "You do remember that year, when mom sent me to get the eggs, and I came home looking like the chickens' next meal?" Garet asked. "I have no desire to live through that again."

            "Then Felix and I will do it," Isaac said. Felix gave him a look that said _you volunteered me?_ Isaac only shrugged. "Get into the holiday spirit. It's good for you."

            "Not if our chickens are still that aggressive."

            "Yes, but you have Psynergy, Felix."

            "Shut up, Isaac."

            "Boys, boys," said Mia's voice from the bottom of the stairs. "Stop acting like little children and bring those things down here!"

            "Yes sir, captain, sir," Ivan mocked.

            "Better watch it or I'll go find Picard."  
            "And what will _he_ do?"

            "Set four of his Djinn."

            "Shutting up."

            The four boys hoisted the boxes and slowly began to bring them down the stairs. Ivan and Garet had no real problems, atypical for them, but true. Isaac carried two boxes, and so was unsteady and much slower, but in the end he set his load down with a relieved sigh.

            Felix, however, wasn't so lucky. He could not see over the top of his stack, and his foot missed a step, sending him tumbling forward, boxes and all. There were several crash, crack, and thud sounds, followed by a loud thunk and a soft groan. Now residing at the bottom of the stairs was what appeared to be several ribbons, a few shattered glass objects, hanging decorations, and two boxes, with a Venus Adept trapped beneath it all.

            "Felix!" Jenna cried. She dropped the large basket of spring flowers she carried and joined Isaac, Garet and Mia in pulling the pile off him.

            "Felix?" Isaac asked. Felix looked up at him, noted Isaac's single raised eyebrow, and nodded. "Good. You sure pick the best ways to almost ruin the holiday."

            "Oh, yes, _that_ boosted my ego," Felix said dryly as Isaac and Garet pulled him up. 

            "It doesn't need one, brother," Jenna said. "Hey—wasn't Ivan here?"

            "Barely a second ago," Mia confirmed. "I was…rather preoccupied. I didn't see where he went." 

            The random chorus of voices yelling "Ivan!" soon enough brought him running, though he would have rather continued his hunt for the elusive Lemurian, whom he thought he'd seen headed towards Vale's plaza a second ago.

            "What?" Ivan asked irritably. He met with several intense gazes, most notably that of Felix. Ivan blinked for a moment—Felix looked somehow different. It may have been the stray pieces of straw in his hair, though. 

            "Come on. We have decorations and such to deal with." Garet took the opportunity to begin dragging Ivan along by the arm, and though he didn't appreciate it one bit, they were heading for the plaza. _I **will** know what that Lemurian is up to_, Ivan thought. 

            Following this were hours of climbing on rooftops, up into trees, and up cliff walls for various forms of decorating. Needless to say, at the end of it all one found five very tired Adepts and two who seemed as though they could have run five miles and _still_ not worn out. Those two were, of course, Ivan and Sheba.

            Thus it was these two who were selected to get the eggs. It was a Spring Festival tradition in Vale to paint eggs with colored dye and then hide them around Vale, and whoever got the most eggs won a giant basket of chocolate. This was, of course, enough to send Garet into a sugar high frenzy and have enough left for several weeks of continued frenzy.

            "Ivan, we've got a problem," Sheba said. "I've only got four eggs."

            "That's alright. I put most of mine in that basket over there, and I've got five more." Defying the proverb that so obviously stated otherwise, Sheba and Ivan put all their eggs in one basket. Not only that, but as they searched one more time for any remaining eggs, they neglected to watch their basket.

            There was a screeching sound, followed by the barking of a dog, and said dog almost instantly chased a cat right under Ivan and Sheba's feet. Sheba, not anticipating the cat's flight up onto her shoulders, fell face-first right onto the basket of eggs. Even if she hadn't, the dog soon joined her, and would have landed on the eggs themselves if she hadn't been in the way. As it was, the eggs were crushed further beneath Sheba.

            "Ivan, we have a _larger_ problem."

            "Messier, too," Ivan said as he helped Sheba up, the two of them looking forlornly at what, in the sun on a hot day, would have become a fried egg large enough to feed most of Vale. 

            "What are we going to tell the others?" Sheba asked worriedly.

            "We won't have to," Ivan said. "They will look at your clothes and know the answer."

            Meanwhile, Mia, Isaac, and Jenna were busy hanging wreathes of flowers off of everything that could have something hung from it. There were also various shards of crystal stuck onto just about every decoration in such a way that they would catch the sunlight and reflect it into a myriad of rainbow colors.

            "This certainly does add a spark to the day!" Jenna said happily. When a Mars Djinni appeared in the air beside her, she groaned. "Not you Spark, I meant spark like a bright point."

            "Oops. Sorry," Spark said in a high voice, disappearing again. Jenna sighed. She climbed down the ladder she was using and set it down flat on the ground. "Alright, Mia, why is that faraway look on your face?"

            "I'm wondering what's taking Ivan and Sheba so long," she said. "And also what in the name of Mercury Picard could be doing that's so important. Aside from playing that flute of his—don't think I don't hear it." Indeed, if Jenna listened, she _could_ hear the sounds of the flute, but they were soft, and might have been the wind.

            "Everyone's so out of it today," Isaac said. "Something wrong with the Spring Festival?"

            "I've never been to one before," Mia said. "Spring is short in Imil, barely different from winter. More rain and less snow, basically. We don't usually celebrate anything."

            "You don't celebrate the day when the green of springtime descends upon the world?" Felix asked, arriving with Garet, both of them carrying a large table between them.

            "Imil spring is rather brown and grey, actually. Not much green." Mia watched as Felix and Garet set the table down, Garet's brother and sister following them with a long bench.

            "I guess you'll have a big dinner here?" Picard had come up behind Mia and Jenna, surprising them both, and as the former jumped, the latter spun and swung the first thing she had grabbed, which ended up being the staff she had leaned against the building as she decorated it. 

            "Jenna!" Isaac said loudly, and Picard, rather surprised himself, jumped backwards as the sharp edge of the wooden staff sliced into his shirtsleeve.

            "Sheesh, Jenna. At least warn me when you're going to start practicing sudden-swinging staff combat!" he said, looking at the tear in his sleeve warily. "That thing is sharp."

            "Where have _you_ been all day?" Felix asked in a half-angry way.

            "Nowhere in particular," Picard replied in an increasingly annoying habit of giving away everything and yet nothing at all. "I've got something planned for your Spring Festival."

            "How was it in Lemuria?" Mia asked.

            "We never had one, that I can remember. Or if we did, we did different things. This is nice, though. Everyone's going to get together just to celebrate a new season."

            "Things get planted the day after," Isaac said with a groan. "More work under the hot sun." He seemed about to go on but for the arrival of Ivan and Sheba. Ivan, looking rather nervous, carried a basket that was covered in something runny and off-white. Sheba seemed to have this same liquid splattered all over her front and her face.

            "Sheba? Ivan? What's going on?" Felix asked.

            "They put all their eggs in the same basket," Picard said, as if that was explanation enough. Ivan and Sheba nodded glumly.

            "And somehow all the eggs ended up being…flattened?" Isaac asked with the most anger anyone had ever heard him use. "The villagers will kill me."

            "We don't have eggs?" Garet asked, a grin spreading on his face.

            "I hardly think that's cause for excitement," Jenna said bitterly.

            "No, no, it's alright. I have an idea!" Ignoring several surprised and skeptical looks, Garet went on and told them his plan. When he was finished, Isaac groaned.

            "Bane is going to kill me," he moaned helplessly. 

(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) 

            "Isaac, I'm going to kill you!" Bane screamed. Luff, Torch and Dew appeared to roll their eyes.

            "It's not so bad," Dew said, looking rather good as a white Djinni with blue spots. Torch agreed, being a bright yellow with red stripes. Even Luff, almost as bad-tempered as Bane, seemed to be enjoying himself. He was a dark purple with swirls of white. 

            "I am _hot pink_!" Bane yelled. "Isaac is going to die a slow death of poisoning!"

            "Not likely," Sheba said, grinning happily. "Now stop complaining or I will give you purple spots."

            "PURPLE?!" Bane roared. Isaac chose that exact moment to walk in, rather aghast at the noise.

            "Perhaps I'd better stay _outside_," he said. "Bane, before you end up hurting Sheba or Jenna or anyone in this household, consider the fact that it was Garet's idea. And no, that was not permission to give_ him_ a slow death by poisoning."

            Garet's idea had indeed been to paint the Djinn in place of the eggs, and the majority of them had been all for it. Only Bane, Squall and Fizz had been against it, but neither Fizz nor Squall had screamed and hollered thus. 

            "It isn't so bad," said Sap, who was also pink, though a lighter shade. "I mean…seventy-two is an awful lot of eggs, or even Djinn posing as eggs. There is a chance that no one will ever find you, and you can go jump in some river tomorrow."

            Bane responded with incoherent muttering the likes of which most Djinn weren't expected to know. 

            Sheba giggled, washing the colored dye out of the bowls it had been in, as the Djinn jumped into the basket that had previously held eggs and Jenna took them to the mayor with their proposition. Garet went with her—he was the mayor's grandson, after all.

            Picard had mysteriously disappeared yet again, but the work yet to be done had lessened considerably. Isaac and the others were finished by the time Garet and Jenna returned. Both of them were grinning.

            "I suppose the mayor agreed," Felix said casually. They nodded. "Well…good…it wouldn't be Spring Festival without eggs."

            "Djinn," Ivan and Sheba said together. 

            "Whatever."

**************************************************

Vil: Chapter three better be done fast…Easter's around the corner! Hope you liked this one! Happy early Easter!  
Kaede: Sí, sí. Felices Pascuas!

Norli: and a happy new yea…wait…wrong holiday.

Avaria: Can we hide the Djinn now?

Picard: Vil, you trapped me with these…these…

Vil: *huggles Picard* You're the best Easter present yet!

Picard: *gasps* Vil…too tight…


	3. Vale Will Never Forget

The Spring Festival Celebration

A/N: The last chapter. I know it's nowhere near Easter anymore. I got way sidetracked. A lot of things (TLA, for example) started happening at once. But I am finished, and here it is for those of you who want to know exactly what Picard was up to that day…

**Rabid Felix Fan:** It's really late, but I hope you enjoy this last chapter!

**Triad:** Hey! You showed up after all. Put Picard in PH. Or else. Oh, yeah, and read this chapter too! ^_^

**Midnight C:** I thought you knew by now not to give me ideas like that!

**Alex:** I'm done! See! Lookie! Finally!

Oh, yeah. Cascade was mentioned in chapter one. Shade is mentioned in this chapter here. They're the same Djinni, it's just that chapter one was pre-TLA and this one is obviously post-TLA. 

Now go read.

Chapter Three: Vale Will Never Forget

         "Is everything ready?"

         "Appears to be."

         "You _did_ tell them they're not allowed to change spots?"

         "I got it covered."

         "Everyone knows they're looking for strange-colored creatures instead of eggs."

         "Far as I know. For Sol's sake, Ivan, light the lantern! I can barely tell who I'm talking too!" Garet snapped, and Ivan shot a spark that lit the lantern. 

         "Why are we out here in the dead of night, anyway?" Jenna asked. "I'm freezing! You're not trying to look for Djinn early, are you?"

         "No, not that. Picard never showed for dinner, and I want to know why. He's out here somewhere, doing whatever mysterious thing he has planned. I want to know what it is." 

         "Can't you just leave him alone?" Ivan asked irritably. "You're always looking for some chink in his personality."

         "Fire and Water are natural opponents."

         "Jenna and Mia get along just fine."

         "Jenna and Mia have something in common."

         "They do?" "We do?" Ivan and Jenna's questions were simultaneous.

         "Think about it for a while," Garet said smugly. "I'm hunting down that Lemurian."

         "You do not need to. He's already here." Picard stepped out from a shadow. Garet jumped. Ivan and Jenna nearly collapsed in giggles. "Trying to discover my surprise, are you?"

         "Um…no, we were just…passing through…" Garet said, looking at the ground.

         "I guarantee that you will see what I have planned by tomorrow night, Garet," Picard said with a faint smile. "Until then, kindly leave me to my plans."

         "You heard him, you big oaf!" said a random voice from above.

         "An egg," Ivan noted. "Come on Garet—we stay up any later, and you won't be up early enough to start the hunt. You might even miss breakfast."

         "Back home we go!" Garet said enthusiastically. He turned and walked quickly back the way he had come, Ivan following close behind, Jenna bringing up the rear. She turned for a moment and noticed Picard still watching them.

         "Sorry about your shirt," she said, shrugging guiltily. "I'm trained on reflex."

         "That's alright. It will give me something to do when I get bored," he said, glancing at his torn sleeve. "Before you ask, Jenna, yes, I did actually eat dinner, and no, I won't tell you my plan. I wouldn't even tell Shade."

         "And I've been with him practically forever," Shade said from some dark hiding spot. "I was never quite this attractive shade of blue before, but still."

         "See you in the morning, Jenna," Picard said with a smile. With a, "Good night," he disappeared into the shadows again. Jenna shook her head.

         "Where in the world did he learn to do _that_?" she asked herself, then turned and hurried to catch up to Garet and Ivan. 

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

         "Up and at 'em, Isaac!" said Dora, shaking her son's shoulder excitedly. "It's the morning of the Spring Festival!"

         "Five more minutes," Isaac mumbled, rolling over and pulling the blanket over his head. "Just this once. I cleaned all day for you yesterday."

         "Isaac, I'm shocked," said another voice. "You'd miss the Djinn Hunt just to get a few extra minutes of sleep?" Isaac rolled back over and squinted in the direction of the voice. It was Mia.

         "Yes," Isaac said sharply. "Bane's out there somewhere, after all. And my head feels empty, without the Djinn connected to me. I'm not in a good mood."

         "That's never bothered you before," said Sheba from her position in the rafters. Isaac looked up at her and made a surprised noise.

         "What is this, the 'watch Isaac sleep' convention?"

         "Might be," said Felix from the doorway. "Might also be the 'everyone come to Isaac's for breakfast' convention. I remember being invited."

         "Oh, right," Isaac said, rising and running a hand through his messy hair in an unsuccessful attempt to get it to look somewhat flat. "Hey, when we go out there today, no one have some sort of tragic and totally preventable accident, alright? I'm not in the mood to deal with it."

         "Well, maybe we won't, but any of the villagers—" Ivan began, but Sheba, who had leapt lightly to the floor, shook her head. 

         "The villagers are far less clumsy and have more luck with such things than any of us, except possibly Mia," she said, following the others (except Isaac) downstairs and grabbing a fruit from the bowl on the table. "Anyone else notice that we eat a lot of fruit for breakfast?"

         "Well I think Dora's out of flour for anything else," said Jenna, smiling. "Besides, Garet doesn't need anymore food."

         "I heard that," said a voice from outside.

         "What's he doing out there?" Mia asked.

         "Trying to spot a Djinni or two, is my guess," said Isaac, joining the others downstairs. "Maybe he actually misses the company."

         "My head is an empty place," Garet agreed, sticking his head in the window.

         "That has nothing to do with your Djinn," Jenna joked, and Garet frowned, tossing his apple core at her. Jenna reached up, caught it, and flung it back at him in one movement. Garet ducked, and the apple hit an unlucky passerby. Garet turned around to find a startled-looking Lemurian staring at him.

         "Uh, hey Picard," he offered lamely. "I didn't do that, by the way. It was Jenna."

         Picard said nothing. Instead, he walked around to the front door and joined the other Adepts inside. Jenna looked quite sheepish, her face a pink shade and her eyes focused on the apparently enthralling pattern of the wood on the table.

         "Sorry," she said.

         "No need to sound so down about it," Picard said brightly. "It was only an apple."

         "What brings you from your hidden activities?" Sheba asked, wishing there were rafters to sit in on this floor.

         "I'm here to see you, actually, Sheba. I have need of a Jupiter Adept to help me…get things going."

         "And why can't I help?" asked Ivan indignantly.

         "Because _you_ are one of last night's conspirators, and you will come running back here and tell everyone what I've been planning to do," Picard said with certainty.

         "Not running. Perhaps a fast walk."

         "The speed does not make a difference. Sheba…I request your assistance."

         "Tell me that isn't a switch," Mia said, though only Isaac and Felix picked up on the joke. 

         "Sure, Picard," Sheba said with an indifferent shrug.

         "You'll miss the Djinn Hunt," Picard said, as though this point had only just come to mind.

         "That's alright. I think it would be really pitiful if I beat everyone to it and came back with seventy-two Djinn," Sheba said with a sly smile. 

         "You would not!" Ivan protested.

         "I would say 'watch me' but I remember now, you can't," Sheba mocked. Ivan turned a shade of red that matched Garet's hair quite well.

         Sheba and Picard left, leaving the others to wonder anew exactly what the Lemurian was planning to do, and now, why it required a Jupiter Adept to get it done.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

         "Everyone ready?" asked the Mayor of Vale, and there was a collective nod from all of its current residents, excluding Picard and Sheba, of course. Every citizen and visitor of Vale was armed and ready—well, if you could call carrying pastel-colored baskets 'armed'—for the hunt. The Djinn Hunt.

         "Then get on with it!" said the Mayor, and the approximately two hundred Valeans that were gathered instantly split off into the forests and cliffs, looking for Djinn.

         "It's a good thing they're all Adepts," Ivan muttered as he walked away. "Less questions about tiny animal-like things that are really the personification of the powers of the elements."

         "Animal-like! The insults grow worse every day," said a voice from the trees.

         "Oh, good morning Whorl," Ivan said cheerily. "Come on now, into my basket, you gave yourself away." Grudgingly, the green-and-yellow Jupiter Djinni flew from the tree into Ivan's basket. 

         "Besides, that isn't us," said Whorl, and Ivan stared down at him. 

         "What isn't you?"

         "The elements personified. That's—"

         "Be quiet," Ivan said suddenly. "I hear another egg." Whorl looked about as pouty as a Jupiter Djinn covered in green and yellow paint could look, but Ivan didn't notice. He was already on the move.

         Garet had chosen the cliffs to do his searching, and had already nabbed Coal, though that had meant a speedy chase through dense foliage and rocky between-cliff areas not big enough to be called valleys, and Fizz, who had protested greatly against being pulled from between rocks in the river, completely washed of paint.

         "Stupid place to hide," Garet had said. "Got all the dye washed away."

         "I did not enjoy being bright orange," Fizz said in a sickened tone. "That is a Mars color, and I am a Mercury Djinni!"

         "And I'm a Mars Adept. Shut up." Garet was quite pleased with himself when Fizz complied.

         Mia was hot on the tail of one of the Jupiter Djinn—she thought it might be Zephyr, with how fast it was moving—when she ran smack into Isaac, who was headed in the other direction. Both of them ended up on the ground, and Mia grabbed whichever Venus Djinni Isaac had found before it could run off. 

         "Quite the morning I've been having," Isaac muttered, pulling a twig from his hair. "Woken up by several hyper Adepts, running through thorns and such chasing Sap there—thanks for catching her, by the way—and then running right into you when I should have been looking where I was going. My apologies, Mia."

         "No, it's alright Isaac," Mia said, standing and brushing herself off. "I was after a Jupiter Djinni…Zephyr, maybe…I ran into _you_, not the other way around."

         "Yes well…shall we look together?" Isaac ventured. Mia reached up and pulled a leaf off his head.

         "Fine by me."

         Deep within the forests, cliffs and underbrush, the Djinn that had not yet been found shifted their positions. Simply because Ivan had told them they couldn't move didn't mean they were going to listen, after all.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

         "Bane! _Bane_! I know you're out there, somewhere!" Isaac called. He and Mia had been searching for hours now, with a break for lunch, and still no sign of the Venus Djinni.

         "Call him back, then," Mia said.

         "Can't. He's not allied with me right now, remember?"

         In five minutes the population of Vale would gather in the plaza and count Djinn. Whoever had the most would win the chocolate. And deny it though he might, Isaac really wanted that chocolate. Partly to annoy Ivan, of course, but partly because, for all that he was a 'hero,' he had never won the chocolate in his life.

         Five minutes later, with no sign of Bane and the sun on the move towards the horizon, Isaac and Mia joined the others in the plaza. Isaac figured, with seven Djinn, he stood a chance.

         "Someone else might have found Bane, you know," Mia said as Garet, Jenna, Ivan and Felix joined them. "There are a lot of people in Vale."

         "Not nearly as many as in Tolbi," Ivan pointed out.

         "Tolbi is a _city_," said Garet with some significance. The others waited for more, but Garet remained silent.

         "And?" Felix ventured.

         "So it's bound to have more people!"

         "Simply because it's a city and not a town or village?"

         "Well…yeah." Garet frowned. Suddenly his brilliant comment sounded rather foolish.

         The Mayor stood on a platform and made a great show of counting everyone's Djinn. The winner, by sheer luck (of which she had more than enough), was Mia, who had nabbed Zephyr after all as Isaac had gone off looking for Bane about an hour before they'd come to the plaza, and had a total of eight Djinn.

         "Chocolate," Ivan said enviously, and Garet stared at the food like it was the only thing he'd ever need in life. Jenna hit him over the head.

         The Djinn were put together into one basket, and immediately Isaac noticed something amiss.

         "Bane's not here," he said, looking for the telltale bright pink of the most ancient Venus Djinni. 

         The crowd went silent, and Bane himself walked through the small pathway that had been made for him, stepping with some difficulty (he eventually had to jump) onto the Mayor's platform. He was the usual Venus Djinni shade of dirt brown.

         There was a long, quiet pause.

         "Well really," Bane said in a dignified voice. "Did you expect me to _stay_ like that? Put me _down_, old man!" he added ferociously as the Mayor lifted him into the air.

         "Which Adept's basket did you belong to?" the Mayor asked. Bane sniffed.

         "Isaac's," he said, his tone conveying that really, there was no other option but that one, and you were stupid to think otherwise.

         "Then I'm afraid Isaac and Mia have tied for the basket of chocolate." Isaac looked up at this, and his face lit up like that of a child with a new toy, or Kraden upon entering Lemuria. 

         "I've never won before! It was always Garet!" Isaac said excitedly, grabbing one of the chocolates and eating it, savoring the sweetness of victory.

         "That explains the fact that he's massive," Ivan said innocently.

         "It's muscle," Garet protested.

         "It sure isn't brains," Jenna said in agreement. Garet looked hurt. "Aw, come on, you know I like you anyway."

         The Djinn rejoined their respective Adepts, including Sheba's and Picard's, who set out in a large group to locate their plotting Adepts. Ivan felt Squall's presence absent from his mind, but Squall had always liked Sheba's company and had probably gone to look for her, he decided. Indeed, Whorl had decided to stay with Ivan, and sat perched on his shoulder as he joined the rest of Vale in the large dinner that was more dessert than anything else.

         The sun had set and stars were beginning to wink into being when Isaac remembered.

         "Picard said we'd know what he was planning by tonight, and I'm still not seeing it," he said. He and the other Adepts were seated atop the tallest cliff in Vale, looking down at the rest of the celebrants. "Tomorrow, we start planting. Just take me now," he pleaded jokingly, looking to the sky.

         "If they did that, the world would be minus one hero," said a voice behind him. Isaac tilted his head backwards and looked up at Sheba. 

         "Hey, you look tall from down here," Felix joked. Sheba stuck her tongue out at him, then joined the others, sitting with her legs hanging over the edge and a sly smile on her face.

         "Alright, spill it," Ivan said finally. "What were you doing all day?"

         "You'll find out all in good time," Sheba said mystically. "All you need do is continue to watch."

         "That reminds me," Ivan said, looking at Whorl. "What were you saying about the personification of the Elements?"

         "I was saying," Whorl began haughtily, "that—" But he was cut off yet again as a purple streak ran into Ivan's head. 

         "Ouch! What the?"

         "Ivan, I cannot believe you!" said Squall, looking up at him angrily from where she stood on the ground. "Two hundred people and no one found me? You didn't even come looking afterwards! Thank you all so _very_ much!"

         "I thought you were looking for Sheba."

         "Likely story." Squall sighed, re-allying herself with Ivan, as Whorl did the same with Sheba. Isaac was about to ask Ivan what he had been talking to Whorl about, but there was a sudden sound, almost like a whistle, that made Isaac and the others jerk their faces skyward, following the noise and a tiny pinpoint of light.

         In truth, only the seven Adepts got to truly witness the beginning of what made this particular Spring Festival unforgettable. It looked like a giant, blue, Psynergetic flower was blooming in the sky. It lingered for a moment, and was joined by a purple one, a red one, and a green one. As those faded, a giant yellow burst of light brightened the area so that it looked like the sun was still up.

         There were five sounds that reminded Felix of the booming noise that had happened when he had shot the Magma Ball at the wall in Loho. Multiplied by ten. Infinitely. 

         "It took us ages to get the mechanics right," Sheba commented as Picard joined the others. They all looked at him quizzically.

         "The Mercury Djinn are running this one," he said, smiling faintly. "Sit back and enjoy the show. Psynergy makes lights in the sky, and they take on different shapes, usually like a starburst, or perhaps resembling a flower. The explosion you hear is an actual explosion, by the way. Tomorrow, I might explain it all. But it is…or it _was_…quite popular in Lemuria."

         The Adepts did as Picard asked, their eyes fixed on the sky as burst after burst of colorful Psynergetic light made the night truly something to remember. 

         "No wonder I couldn't find my Burst Brooch," Jenna whispered in an awed voice. "Picard took it."

         "I did," he admitted, grinning. "It was worth it, yes?"

         "Oh yes," Mia said breathlessly. "It was _so_ worth it."

         Each of them smiling, the eight Adepts sat together watching the wonderful show Picard had engineered and enjoyed something they didn't often get in the saving the world business—the chance to relax and celebrate being alive, together, and still mostly sane.

         Djinn or no Djinn.

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Before anyone says it, I know there weren't any battles or anything like that in here. It was just meant to be funny and a little insane. It was also meant to be finished by Easter, but it wouldn't be this good if it had been.

And no, the fireworks (that's what they were) aren't in there to tie into the Fourth of July. There were going to be fireworks way back when I began the fic. Ok. So. That button there. No, not _there_, _here_.

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